The root problem is that the world is filled with a**holes, fools, idiots, and jerks. None of these people care about others, the societies in which they live, or making the world a better place. Sometimes, these people are parents, and I guess sometimes they end up in First with their kids. There's not much you can do really....

I do disagree with hitting or spanking them. This is generally not the child's fault. They simply cannot remain stationary and calm for that long. It's not their fault, it's just their developing minds and bodies. When they do cross the line, hitting them teaches nothing, other than this is what parents do when they are mad. For the same developmental reasons stated earlier by Plato, they just can't reason the "teaching" aspect of hitting, yelling, or spanking. I think if we are all honest with ourselves, we can admidt spanking really helps the adults "feel" better by releiving stress and by "punishing" the offender. The child really derives no benefit, mostly because they don't understand, but they also learn that this is how they should "teach" others, maybe years later...........